Top 10: Rebels Moments

Welcome to Top 10. In this series, I will pick a subject in Star Wars and pick my top 10 rankings within that category. I initially began this ahead of Solo: A Star Wars Story byranking the first 10 Star Wars filmsand enjoyed doing it so much, I thought it would be fun to make into a more regular series. Today I will be going through my Top 10 moments from Rebels.

I recently looked at mytop 10 stories from The Clone Warsand really enjoyed writing that, so wanted to do something similar with Rebels. However due to the nature of the show, all of the stories have some impact on the overall narrative. I did consider looking at my top 10 episodes but then I found there were some episodes that I wasn’t overly enthusiastic about that would have a moment in that I would love, so I have chosen instead to look at those moments in the Rebels story.

10.Epilogue – “Family Reunion and Farewell”

The final moment of the entire series, which was kept a secret even from most of the voice actors. The epilogue shows Sabine going to meet a ship while a voice-over from her tells of how the Ghost crew stayed to protect Lothal from an attack that never came due to the Rebellion beginning open war. It tells of what happened to the crew, revealing Hera’s involvement at Endor and the birth of her and Kanan’s son, as well as Kallus and Zeb’s growing friendship. It ends with Ahsoka returning to join Sabine in the search for Ezra, with the final shot being of a painting Sabine has done of the Ghost crew. This was such a lovely moment and a beautiful way to finish the show.

9.Kanan v the Grand Inquisitor – “Fire Across the Galaxy”

“That was a mistake.”

“Why? Because you have no one left to die for you?”

“No… because I have nothing left to fear!”

Following an attempt by the Ghost crew to rescue Kanan, he and Ezra fight the Grand Inquisitor, but Ezra is knocked off the platform to what Kanan believes to be his death. Kanan takes Ezra’s lightsaber and fights defeats him. With the ship exploding around them, the Grand Inquisitor hangs off a ledge and tells Kanan “There are some things far more frightening than death” before letting go and falling into the flames. It is this fight that sees Kanan really embrace his power and the Grand Inquisitors chilling words are a wonderful foreshadowing of Vader and the Emperor’s impact on later seasons.

8.Formation of the Alliance – “Secret Cargo”

After helping Gold Squadron transport Mon Mothma to Dantooine, the former Senator gives a speech over the HoloNet announcing her resignation from the Senate and rallying her allies – an announcement we see broadcast throughout the galaxy and seen by many of the Rebel cells. There is a moment where it appears nobody will answer her call, until one by one transports jump into the system and the Rebel fleet is formed. This is a hugely important moment in the canon as it shows the true joining together of the cells into an official Alliance, which will one day go on to defeat the Empire and I thought it was shown beautifully in Rebels.

7.The Wolves Attack – “A Fool’s Hope”

We all know that Dave Filoni loves his wolves and while the Loth-wolves were involved in a number of memorable moments throughout the 4th season, this was by far my favourite with them. With the Rebels on Lothal slowly being overrun by Imperial forces, Ezra orders everyone into a cave. When Imperials try to follow, the pack of Loth-wolves attack at decimate the forces. It is a brutal attack as the troopers are flung around and over the edge of the cliff, while the music playing through the attack seems reminiscent of a horror, which it certainly would have been for the Imperials. I couldn’t draw my eyes away from this scene!

6.Thrawn Deduces the Traitor – “Through Imperial Eyes”

After attempts to find a mole in the Imperial ranks, Kallus thinks he has successfully outwitted Thrawn and Colonel Yularen by pinning the blame on Lieutenant Lyste. Thrawn and Yularen are left alone in the office and receive a helmet worn by a “bounty hunter” who had been captured earlier. Thrawn identifies the design painted on it as a stylised depiction of a Loth-cat, native to Lothal, and recognises the style as that of Sabine Wren, thereby theorising that the captured bounty hunter was Ezra Bridger. When Yularen wonders how Kallus did not recognise him, Thrawn explains that it is because Kallus is clearly the traitor, but chooses to hold onto the knowledge in order to exploit “Agent Fulcrum” at a later date. I have never read any of the material from Legends that featured Thrawn, but I had heard enough to know how brilliant his mind was. This was the moment we saw just how good he could be in canon and made me even more excited to see more and readthe then-upcoming Thrawn novel.

5.Ahsoka Feels Vader – “The Siege of Lothal”

After Vader tracks the Ghost from Lothal back to Phoenix Home, Darth Vader begins to attack he Rebels present, easily dispatching a number of fighters. The Ghost crew join the fight with Ahsoka on board. Sensing the mysterious pilot is strong with the Force, she and Kanan reach out to sense him and she realises the truth of his identity, while he also feels the presence of his former padawan. After years of loving The Clone Wars, I loved this as the moment Ahsoka went out on the Ghost it seemed so likely that something was going to happen between her and Vader, and it did not disappoint as she screamed in shock before collapsing, while Vader uttered the chilling line:

“The apprentice lives…”

4.Sabine Trains with the Darksaber – “Trials of the Darksaber”

After some frustration in previous training sessions, Kanan allows Sabine to train with him using the Darksaber. He teaches her to use not just the forms she has learned from sparring with Ezra, but also her own skills and Mandalorian gadgets. Kanan realises that she is fighting within herself and goads her with talk of her running from her family and she emotionally reveals the truth behind why she left Mandalore. Now I’m a big Sabine fan so finally getting to hear more of her backstory was huge for me. I also thought that the scene was beautifully shot and the emotion from the voice actors perfect for the moment.

3.The Death of Caleb Dume – “Jedi Night”

After rescuing Hera from Imperial captivity, Kanan and Hera escape to the top of a fuel pod. In an attempt to stop them getting away with Ezra and Sabine in a stolen Imperial patrol transport, Governor Price orders the pilots of the AT-AT she is in to fire on the fuel pod. As Hera clambers onto the transport, Kanan runs back and uses the Force to hold off the explosion long enough for the others to escape. For this to only make 3rd place shows just how good some of the other moments in Rebels were and in fact my colleague at work was shocked that I didn’t put it higher. This was probably the most beautiful piece of music done by Kevin Kiner for the show and combined with stunning visuals including Kanan’s sight returning, it’s almost impossible to watch without getting emotional!

2.Maul v Kenobi – “Twin Suns”

After using Ezra to find Ben Kenobi, Maul faces his old nemesis for one last time. I was not a fan of this episode on the whole, but from the moment Maul and Ben Kenobi – voiced wonderfully by Sam Witwer and Stephen Stanton – come face-to-face this episode took a massive upswing. I loved the verbal sparring between the two warriors and the way that Maul is able to perceive Kenobi’s reasons for coming to Tatooine are to protect someone rather than to hide, leading to the necessity for Ben to kill him. And as for the fight itself, many people may have felt that the fight was disappointingly short, but I love it! The way Ben shifts from his usual stance to the one Qui-Gon used against Maul – something Maul notices and adjusts to – which leads to Maul trying to use the same move he used on Qui-Gon and being killed was perfect for the moment and also hearkens back to classic battles between samurai that were traditionally over in just a handful of moves. And to finish it off with Kenobi cradling Maul in his arms as he died – the same as he did for Qui-Gon and Satine after Maul killed them – showed just how great a Jedi he truly is.

1.Ahsoka v Vader – “Twilight of the Apprentice”

“I thought I knew who you were under that mask. But it’s impossible. My master could never be so vile.”

“Anakin Skywalker was weak. I destroyed him.”

“Then I will avenge his death.”

“Revenge is not the Jedi way.”

“I am no Jedi.”

When Vader arrives on Malachor and tries to take the Sith holocron from Ezra, Ahsoka confronts him and engages her former master in battle, apparently sacrificing herself to allow Ezra and Kanan to escape as the Sith temple explodes. I’m a massive Ahsoka fan and after she and Vader realised that they were both still alive in the first episode of the season, it was always likely that the master and apprentice would eventually come face to face. The fight was a wonderful balance of Ahsoka’s agility and Vader’s strength and the dialogue between the two was wonderful. The moment when Vader called out to Ahsoka but due to his helmet being damaged you heard a combination of James Earl Jones’ Darth Vader and Matt Lanter’s Anakin Skywalker was perfect, made even better by the deliberate decision to have Matt Lanter be the one voicing the line “Then you will die” – making it clear Ahsoka could not turn him back to the Light. Much like Kanan’s death, it is hard to watch this entire sequence and the ending of the episode without getting emotional, but I have not yet had a chance to watch it again since “A World Between Worlds” aired, so it will be interesting to see if the effect is changed knowing she survives.

So that’s my list, how does it compare to yours? Let me know in the comments. Thanks for reading and May the Force be with you…